Container with safety cap

ABSTRACT

A container for products dangerous to children is provided with a safety cap. The cap can only be removed after first squeezing an elliptical retainer on the bottle or cap to thereby disengage mating lugs on the bottle and cap. Unitl the lugs are disengaged, the cap cannot be removed.

United States Patent 1 Dougherty, Sr.

[ Oct. 30, 1973 CONTAINER WITH SAFETY CAP Frank E. Dougherty, Sr., Mays Landing, NJ.

Daugherty Brothers Company, Buena, NJ.

Filed: May 25, 1971 Appl. No.: 146,667

Inventor:

Assignee:

U.S. Cl. 215/9 Int. Cl 'B65d 55/02 Field of Search 215/9, 41, 44, 95

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1958 Martin 215/9 3,376,991 4/1968 Deaver "215/9 Primary ExaminerGeorge T. Hall Attorney-Seidel, Gonda & Goldhammer 7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures CONTAINER WITH SAFETY CAP This invention is directed to a container with a safety cap to prevent children from having access to products within the container which may cause harm to the children. The products within the container may be any one of a wide variety of solid or liquid products including medicines, detergents, caustic cleaning products,

etc.

The container is provided with a cap removably coupled thereto such as by threads on the inner periphery of the cap and mating threads on the outer periphery of a neck portion of the container. In one embodiment of the present invention, a'retainer made from a flexible polymeric plastic material such as polyethylene or rubber is mounted on the neck in a manner to'prevent relative rotation. Lugs on the retainer cooperate'with lugs on the cap to prevent the cap from rotating in a direction to permit removal of the cap. The flexibility of the retainer permits the retainer to be manually deformed by use of the thumb and forefinger to thereby disengage the lugs and permit removal of the cap.

The safety cap structure involved in the presentin- 4 vention does not render the container pilfer-proof. In-

stead, the present invention is a deterrent to prevent small children from inadvertently having access to the contents of a container merely by twisting the cap. In order to be able to twist the cap of the present invention, it is necessary to simultaneously deform the retainer. This involves a certain amount of dexterity and the use of both hands and hence would not be obvious to a child. This desirable object is accomplished by the present invention inamanner which is simple,.inexpensive, and reliable.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a container with safety cap which prevents small children from having access to the contents of the container merely by unscrewing the cap.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a container having a cap threadedly connected thereto in a manner whereby the cap may not be unthreaded until released by disengagement of lugs.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a container having a hermetically sealable cap coupled thereto and releasable from the container in a manner which requires the use of both hands.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a container with a safety cap in accordance with the present invention, with portions shown in section.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements,-there is shown in FIG. 1

a container in accordance with the present invention designated generally as 10. The upper end of the container is provided with a neck 12 which has an outlet or inlet to the container. The outlet is hermetically sealed by means of a cap 14 having a sealing member 16 which engages an end face of the neck. Member 16 may be a rubber or polymeric plastic sealing member, cork, etc. I

The cap 14 'is provided with threads 20 on its inner periphery which are threadedly coupled to threads 18 on the outer periphery of the neck 12. The container 10 may be made from any one of a wide variety of plastic materials including glass, polymeric plastics, etc. The cover 14 may be made from a wide variety of materials including metal such as aluminum, a polymeric plastic such as polystyrene, etc. Thus, the container and its cap may be made from the same materials utilized heretofore in connection with products which may be dangerous to children such as medicines, caustic solutions, detergents, etc.

The neck 12 of the container 10 below the cap 14 is provided with an elliptical retainer 24. The retainer 24 is made from a flexible polymeric plastic material such as polyethylene. A bead 22 on the neck 12 is snap fitted into a groove on the inner periphery of a mounting portion 26 on the retainer 24. As will be apparent from FIG. 2, the peripheral contour of the head 22 is non-circularso that the retainer 24 may not rotate relative to the neck 12. Other well-known means may be utilized to couple the retainer 24 to the lug 22 in a nonrotative manner.

The retainer 24, as shown more clearly in FIG. 3, is provided with lugs 28 and 30 at diametrically opposite points on its inner peripheral surface adjacent its upper edge. The upper edge of the retainer 24 overlaps the lower end portion of the cap 14.

Lugs 32, 34, 36 and 38 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end of the cap 14. In the closed position of the cap, as shown in FIG. 1, the lugs 28-38 lie in the same plane. Each of the lugs 28-38 has a face lying along a radius of the neck 12 and a cam surface at an angle thereto whereby each of the lugs is generally triangular in configuration.

Except for the fact that the sealing member 16 is engaging the end face of the neck 12, the cap 14 could be rotated in a clockwise direction in FIG. 3 since the cam surface 40 on each of the lugs 32--38 would cam the lugs 28 and 30 outwardly. However, the cap 14 in FIG. 3 cannot be rotated in a counterclockwise direction to permit removal of-the cap 14 from the neck 12 due to the engaging radial faces on the lugs 28 and 32 and the similar mating faces on the lugs 30 and 36. While four lugs are shown on the outer periphery of the cap 14, a

greater or lesser number of lugs may be utilized as desired.

In order to unscrew the cap 14, it is necessary to first apply a force in the direction of arrows 42 and 44 to disengage the contact between lugs 28 and 32 and the contact between lugs 30 and 36. The force necessary to cause such disengagement may be accomplished by the thumb and forefinger of an adult. After such disengagement of the lugs, the cap 14 may be unthreaded in a conventional manner.

Thus, it will be seen that the present invention accomplishes the desired objects in a manner which is simple. The bead 22 is generally provided on a neck of a container and is often referred to as a transfer ring which performs the function of holding a parison duringmanufacture of the container. Bead 22 is often frequently used for shrinking tamper-proof seals to the container. While the bead 22 is shown in FIG. 2 as having an octagonal configuration, it may accomplish its intended function of supporting the retainer 24 and preventing relative rotation merely by having one or more flat faces with cooperating configuration on the mounting portion 26. Alternatively, a rib and notch structural relationship may be provided between the retainer 24 and the neck 12 to prevent relative rotation.

In the present invention, it will be noted that the retainer has lugs on its inner peripheral surface at diametrically opposite points. The lugs are so located so as to be on opposite sides of the minor diameter with their engaging face along the minor diameter of the ellipse. The engaging faces on each of the lugs illustrated in the drawing lie along a radius of the neck on the container. In the illustrated enbodiment the retainer is elliptical in configuration and deformable to disengage the lugs.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a container of plastic material having an opening at one end in a round neck thereon, a round cap threadedly connected to threads on said neck, an elliptical retainer mounted on one of said cap and container below the elevation of the threads, diametrically opposite lugs on the minor diameter of the retainer on the inner peripheral surface thereof, mating lugs on one of said cap and neck for cooperation with the lugs on the retainer for preventing the cap from being rotated relative to the neck, each lug having a side face lying along a radius of the neck for engagement with the side face of another lug, each lug having a cam surface at an acute angle with respect to its side face, and said retainer being of flexible material so that the retainer may be deformed to disengage the mating lugs and permit rotation of the cap relative to the neck.

2. An article of manufacture comprising a container having an opening at one end in a round neck thereon,

a round cap threadedly connected to threads on said neck, said neck having a bead on the outer periphery thereof, an elliptical retainer mounted on said bead below said threads, diametrically opposite lugs on the minor diameter of the retainer on the inner peripheral surface thereof, mating lugs on said cap for cooperation with the lugs on the retainer for preventing the cap from being rotated relative to the neck, means on said bead and retainer to prevent relative rotation between said bead and retainer, each lug having a side face lying along a radius of the neck for engagement with a side face of another lug, each lug having a cam surface at an acute angle with respect to its side face, said retainer being a flexible material so that the retainer may be deformed to disengage the mating lugs and permit rotation of the cap relative to the neck, the upper edge of said retainer being above the lower edge of said cap, the minor diameter of the retainer being greater than the outer diameter of the cap, and said mating lugs being on the outer periphery of said cap.

3. An article in accordance with claim 2 wherein the number of mating lugs on the outer periphery of said cap exceeds the number of lugs on the inner periphery of said retainer.

4. An article in accordance with claim 2 wherein the outer periphery of said bead has a flat face with a mating face on said retainer, said retainer being snapped over said bead so that thebead projects into a groove on the inner periphery of said retainer.

5. An article in accordance with claim 2 including a sealing member within said cap engaging an end face of said container to hermetically seal the cap to the container.

6. An article in accordance with claim 2 wherein said plastic container is made from a polymeric plastic, and said retainer is made from a polymeric plastic.

7. An article in accordance with claim 2 wherein said container is a vitreous material and said retainer is a polymeric plastic. 

1. An article of manufacture comprising a container of plastic material having an opening at one end in a round neck thereon, a round cap threadedly connected to threads on said neck, an elliptical retainer mounted on one of said cap and container below the elevation of the threads, diametrically opposite lugs on the minor diameter of the retainer on the inner peripheral surface thereof, mating lugs on one of said cap and neck for cooperation with the lugs on the retainer for preventing the cap from being rotated relative to the neck, each lug having a side face lying along a radius of the neck for engagement with the side face of another lug, each lug having a cam surface at an acute angle with respect to its side face, and said retainer being of flexible material so that the retainer may be deformed to disengage the mating lugs and permit rotation of the cap relative to the neck.
 2. An article of manufacture comprising a container having an opening at one end in a round neck thereon, a round cap threadedly connected to threads on said neck, said neck having a bead on the outer periphery thereof, an elliptical retainer mounted on said bead below said threads, diametrically opposite lugs on the minor diameter of the retainer on the inner peripheral surface thereof, mating lugs on said cap for cooperation with the lugs on the retainer for preventing the cap from being rotated relative to the neck, means on said bead and retainer to prevent relative rotation between said bead and retainer, each lug having a side face lying along a radius of the neck for engagement with a side face of another lug, each lug having a cam surface at an acute angle with respect to its side face, said retainer being a flexible material so that the retainer may be deformed to disengage the mating lugs and permit rotation of the cap relative to the neck, the upper edge of said retainer being above the lower edge of said cap, the minor diameter of the retainer being greater than the outer diameter of the cap, and said mating lugs being on the outer periphery of said cap.
 3. An article in accordance with claim 2 wherein the number of mating lugs on the outer periphery of said cap exceeds the number of lugs on the inner periphery of said retainer.
 4. An article in accordance with claim 2 wherein the outer periphery of said bead has a flat face with a mating face on said retainer, said retainer being snapped over said bead so that the bead projects into a groove on the inner periphery of said retainer.
 5. An article in accordance with claim 2 including a sealing member within said cap engaging an end face of said container to hermetically seal the cap to the container.
 6. An article in accordance with claim 2 wherein said plastic container is made from a polymeric plastic, and said retainer is made from a polymeric plastic.
 7. An article in accordance with claim 2 wherein said container is a vitreous material and said retainer is a polymeric plastic. 